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Border series: Saturday afternoon on Radio Sligo

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Border series: Saturday afternoon on Radio Sligo
Radio Sligo t-shirt featuring station logo (courtesy Ian Biggar)

The history of pirate radio in Sligo is complicated by the existence of different stations of the same name during various periods, with no clear link to each other. The first period dates began in 1979 with two pirates based in the town – the first station calling itself Radio Sligo on 1166 kHz and the other called Radio City on 1300 kHz, which renamed itself Community Radio Sligo by 1980. Neither station was mentioned in the August/September 1980 edition of Sounds Alternative, so there may have been no pirates operating in the town at that time.

The second period is from autumn 1981 when a new Radio Sligo was logged on 1260 kHz, announcing 237 metres. This station featured in pirate radio listings in the Sunday Journal from late 1981 into 1982. The Danish Shortwave Clubs International Irish radio reports gave an address of 4 Castle Street, Sligo for this station. It continued to be logged in various sources up to 1984.

The third period is from 1985 with the arrival of another station called Radio Northwest, which later renamed itself Radio Sligo. According to a list published by Anoraks Ireland on 7th October 1985, this was also based at 4 Castle Street, so it may have been connected with the previous station of the same name, although probably not with the original Radio Sligo from 1979.

This short airchecked recording of Radio Sligo is from the second period and features an unidentified DJ and adverts for local businesses in Sligo. It was recorded from 1745-1805 on Saturday 29th January 1983 from 1260 kHz. The tape is from the Leon Tipler Collection, donated to us by Steve England. Thanks to Ian Biggar for additional background information.

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Border series: Radio Sligo

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Border series: Radio Sligo
A Radio Sligo t-shirt courtesy of Ian Biggar/DX Archive.

This is a rare recording of Radio Sligo from 1981, made during one of DX Archive’s tours of Ireland. It is partially airchecked, but gives a great sense of the variety of Sunday programming spanning country, traditional Irish and heavy metal. Audio levels are up and down and there are plenty of technical glitches including a break in transmission after which the presenter says that the problem was fixed with a screwdriver! The recording was made from 1260 kHz (237 metres) on the 16th of August 1981 and is courtesy of Ian Biggar. A station ident refers to 250 metres (1197 kHz) so Radio Sligo must have been on that frequency previously.

The line-up on this recording is Mervyn Hamiton from 1120-1130, Céilí House from 1130-1200, a comedy show called Crazy Corner presented by Mike Marchini from 1200-1230 and a mixed show including heavy metal, country and pop with David Hamilton from 1230-1308. There’s also a message from Paul Martell about the station’s forthcoming marathon in aid of the Irish Wheelchair Association, an early example of the pirates supporting charitable causes. It’s not clear how long Radio Sligo lasted but in 1984 the Sligo Champion reported on a court case which heard that a former DJ had allegedly wrecked the station, causing £1,500 worth of damage. Another station, Radio Northwest called itself Radio Sligo on occasion in late 1984 and 1985 but was a separate outfit. In 1987 and 1988 Anoraks Ireland lists a Sligo Radio and a Westside Radio on FM only in Sligo but these are not thought to be connected to the original Radio Sligo either.

This is a unique recording of a little-known rural station showing how much variety there could be on Irish pirate radio. You can read more on DX Archive.